National Guard helps residents cope with cold

DURHAM, N.C. -- In a region left dark and cold by a major ice storm, National Guard volunteers went door-to-door Sunday to show residents how to safely heat their homes after two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to keep warm.

More than 200 people have sought medical help for carbon monoxide poisoning since the ice storm downed trees and power lines Thursday.

The guardsmen also reminded residents that emergency shelters were open and offered kind words of hope.

Annie Mae Allen, 81, has a working gas heater in the childhood home she shares with her 75-year-old brother, but was concerned about the food in her freezer.

"I just don't want to lose this good food," she said, asking the volunteers when they would turn on her lights.

"Ma'am, if we could turn on your power we would," said Sgt. Tim Goodnight.

Utility work crews had made progress in getting power restored to darkened homes.

Duke Power, which had 1.3 million customers in the Carolinas without electricity after the ice storm Thursday, had restored power to more than half of them as of early Sunday afternoon. It reported 76,200 power outages in Durham as of Sunday morning, down from 108,900 immediately after the storm. However, Duke said it would take it until midnight Wednesday before a majority of its Durham customers had service restored.

Carolina Power & Light, which serves most of the state east of Durham, was still working to return power to about 142,000 customers. The state's rural electric cooperatives reported about 19,000 without power Sunday.

Gov. Mike Easley on Sunday joined National Guard soldiers knocking on doors in Wendell, a small town east of Raleigh. He said soldiers had contacted residents of more than 10,000 homes.

Goodnight said the unit's mission was to make sure people knew about area shelters and safe ways to keep warm.

A 31-year-old man died and at least seven people in the same Durham apartment were hospitalized Saturday, police said. They were burning charcoal on a grill indoors to keep warm.

In Shelby, a man died and his wife was hospitalized after they ran a generator on an enclosed sun porch, police said.

Thirty deaths, mostly traffic-related, have been blamed on the storm and its aftermath.

The latest was Sunday morning, when an out-of-state utility worker who was working to help restore power was killed in a truck crash near Gastonia.